Arkham Hill
by Solareon
Summary: What first started out as a simple supply run, soon turns into a horrifying battle for survival. Daryl and Woodbury refuge, Karen, are forced to rely on each other if they hope to make it out of this nightmare alive. Post 3x16.
1. Home

**Summary**: _What first started out as a simple supply run, soon turns into a horrifying battle for survival. Daryl and Woodbury refuge, Karen, are forced to rely on each other if they hope to make it out of this nightmare alive._

**Author's Notes:** _Well, since I won't be able to see any new episodes of walking dead for **6 more months,** I might as well write till my brains go even more numb. So, here we go. _

**Disclaimer**: _The walking Dead belongs to Robert Kirkman, AMC, and whoever else I'm forgetting, I own nothing of it, and never will._

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_"Every town has its secrets... some are just darker than others."_

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Chapter 1: _Home_

"You don't talk much, do you?" Karen asked from the driver's side of the truck.

Daryl didn't answer the question, he jus kept his eyes trained away from the driver, staring numbly out the window, as the truck drove down the snow-covered road. He really wasn't in the mood for talking, honestly he didn't even want to be in the damn truck, he was pretty pissed with how the day was going.

The prison was running dangerously low on food, they were burning through their food supply fast, and with all new mouths to feed from Woodbury, something had to be done. So, Rick had asked him to go on a run to go on a supply run.

Now Normally he wouldn't be pissy about going on a run, but this wasn't an average supply run. It wasn't just his small group he was gathering food for anymore, _his_ group could make do just with a deer, a rabbit, and some squirrels, but with all the people from Woodbury now taking up shop with the group, hunting wouldn't be enough, he'd have to go find a large amount of food and bring it back to the prison.

That meant going farther than he usually would, much farther, Glenn had guessed he'd at least be gone for a couple of days, which meant that he couldn't take his trusty motorcycle, and that also meant he couldn't go alone on this run. That in itself was another reason he was pissed off.

It wouldn't have been a big deal to him if went on this run with Glenn, or Michonne, or even Rick himself, but all three were busy. Glenn had already left on a cloths run with Maggie, winter was coming soon, and with new people staying with, they'd have to find better cloths for to survive the coming winter. So, the couple had left for Woodbury in hopes of gathering some warming outfits for the prison.

Michonne was helping Carl, Tyreese and Sasha kill all the walkers inside the tombs and out of the prison, they were trying to make it look more like a community, and less like a prison, which he personally thought made no fucking sense, if the people from Woodbury wanted to live in a community, than they could all just go back to Woodbury and leave his group alone.

Rick wasn't even an option to go along on _any_ run really, poor bastard hadn't even left the prison since the Woodbury refuges came, he was leading the charge in helping the people adjust to their new surroundings, cleaning up the prison with Carol, Beth and Hershel,and plus he was still worried about leaving the prison without a leader since the Governor was still at large.

Now that left Daryl in a tough bind, he couldn't go on the food run alone, well _he_ thought he could, but Rick had insisted he take at least someone with him, and since his normal choices were all busy at the moment, that meant turning to someone from Woodbury to go with him. Keep in mind, most of the people from Woodbury, were either kids, teens, or just too old, and not even Hershel old, because regardless of being an old man with missing a leg, Hershel was still a wise, shotgun toting, tough son of bitch.

There was one Woodbury refuge that he could take with him though, and that was Karen, the sole survivor of the Woodbury Militia.

Rick had liked the idea, saying it'd be good for someone from Woodbury to get some field experience working with someone from the original group, Daryl on the other had thought it was bull shit, he might as well have been going alone. How the hell was some green horn survivor from Woodbury gonna help him? Last time he checked, people from Woodbury couldn't fight worth shit. Like always though, he took on the mission without bitching and left with Karen.

They had been driving none stop for some time now, stuck in an awkward silence for hours, which he preferred rather than actually talking, but apparently some quiet time wasn't good enough for the damn woman, and she had been trying unsuccessfully to engage him in small talk.

"You really don't talk much, do you?" Karen repeated, Daryl's face scrunched up in annoyance, this damn woman wasn't getting the point that he didn't want to talk to her, he just wanted to get this shit over with, maybe kill some walkers, and go the hell back home.

Karen sighed. "You're going to have to talk eventually."

"_Ya don't know shit bout Dixons, if ya thinking I will."_ Daryl thought to himself.

This continued on for an hour, Karen trying to make up small talk, and Daryl ignoring her. The damn woman was either talking about her damn son, or just asking questions he didn't feel like answering, frankly, he just didn't give a shit about what she had to say, all he wanted was silence! Finally something inside him just snapped.

"God damn it woman!" Daryl roared punching the dash-board of the truck. "Ya can't shut ya damn mouth for five fucking seconds? Who gives a fuck if we talk or not?!"

Now logic says, after someone gets yelled and cursed at, they should be offended, get angry, or try to at least defend themselves, to his Karen didn't do any of that, in fact, she just raised her eyebrows at him.

"That's the best you got?" She said keeping one eye on the road. "Cause I'm not scared of a couple swears, belive I've heard worst.

Daryl didn't say anything after that, he felt like saying something, but didn't. She wasn't worth his time or the headache, just hoped that if he went back to ignoring her, she would keep her mouth shut.

After driving in silence for a couple of miles, Karen said. "You really are just like your brother, ya know that right?"

"That suppose to be an insult?" Daryl asked glaring at the woman. "Cus ya can walk ya ass back to prison if it is."

Karen rolled her eyes. "Last time I checked, I'm the one driving, Dixon."

"If ya talking bad bout my brother, that ain't gonna matter" Daryl challenged.

"I didn't mean it as an insult." Karen replied, not even looking the least bit concerned about Daryl's threat. "It's just your brother use to talk like that, all the cursing and anger, you just sounded like him for a second." She then briefly looked at Daryl apologetically for a second. "I'm sorry if it came off as an insult, I didn't mean anything by it."

Daryl grunted and looked back out the window. "Whatever, just drive." He said not really wanting to continue the conversation.

Karen looked like she wanted to say something else, but let it go, deciding to focus on driving the truck instead, the roads were covered in snow, and it'd be safer to keep her attention where it mattered.

She had thought about telling Daryl the real reason why he had been hand-picked for this supply run, and why she had gone with him. The truth of the matter was, Rick was worried about him, he thought that some time away from the prison would do him good, at least, that's what he told her. She didn't know what Daryl had been like before she had joined the group, but she knew there was something in his eyes, something troubled.

As they continued to drive in silence, something started to bother Daryl, it was a nagging feeling in the back of his head. Looking out of the corner of his eyes, he looked at Karen, for some reason, he wanted to know more of what she had to say about his brother, he didn't know why really. A lot of people knew Merle, and a lot of them had bad things to say about Merle, the only thing asking questions about his brother would do, would piss him off even more, and he really didn't need that, not today.

Grunting, Daryl mentally berated himself. Thinking about his wasn't gonna do him any good, it'd only distract him. He didn't need to know anything, better off not knowing. Nevertheless, he still kept stealing glances at her.

"You can ask me about him, you know." Karen said quietly, still looking out at the road. "I know you want to."

Daryl snorted, still watching her out of the corner of his eyes. "How ya think that?"

"Because, you've been staring at me for the twenty minutes." Karen replied still not looking at him.

Twenty minutes, really? Had he really been looking at her that long? No, she must have been full of shit. "Ya were gawking out at the road, how would ya even know what I was looking at?" Daryl shot back defensively.

Karen fixed him a dry look, she then said. "I'm a mother, I have eyes in the back of my head. You didn't know?"

"Smart ass." He muttered turning his attention back out the window.

Looking back at the road, Karen suddenly said. "Listen, I'm not happy about going on this supply run either. I'd rather be at the prison just as much as you would, but these are the cards we've been dealt, nothings gonna change that."

Daryl opened his mouth to say argue, but closed it right after. He hated to admit it, but she was right, getting at each others throats wouldn't do them any good, they'd just have to suck it up and deal with the bull shit.

He really couldn't make heads or tails of Karen, she'd been with them for a month now, and unlike the other naive slugs the group had brought back from Woodbury, she actually could hold her own. That didn't change much though, at the end of the day, she still hadn't proved herself to him yet.

Sighing, Daryl laid his head against the glass of the window and said. "Just wake me when we get there, and try not to crash and get us killed too."

"Fuck you too, Dixon." Karen muttered.

Just as Daryl was about to close his eyes and try to get some rest, he caught a glimpse of a road sign up ahead, and as soon as he read it, he shot up from the seat, and a cold chill went up his spine.

He had been so distracted the entire ride, that he didn't notice how familiar the landmarks were looking, how the view from outside the windows were starting to show snow-covered mountains, and not the flat scenery that he was use to seeing while driving.

"What's wrong?" Karen said noticing Daryl's sudden silence and lack of color. She subconsciously gripped the gun on her waist, a nervous habit she had picked up after almost being murdered by the Governor.

Daryl started to take deep, long breaths, then he gripped his knees as hard as he could, he couldn't believe he had been so stupid. Why hadn't he checked Glenn's directions before agreeing to go on this supply run?

He swallowed the saliva that had built up in his mouth, and then quietly said. "We're in North Georgia."

Daryl had somehow managed to go back to the one place on earth he never wanted to see again. A place from his nightmares, that not even the CDC, Hershel's farm, or even the arena at Woodbury could compare to. A place he hadn't been to since the world had first gone to shit.

Daryl Dixon, had found his way home to the Mountains of North Georgia.

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**Author's notes:** _Well that's all for now._ _if you're wondering why Daryl is acting how he's acting, I'm writing him in the way Normal Reedus said he could be in season 4, he said that Daryl would be more cold and angry, like he was in season 1, so I'm trying to do justice by that. As to why I picked Karen as a lead in the story, and not anyone else from the group, well that was because I wanted someone who didn't know anything about to Daryl, and who really had an unknown back story themselves I can work on. I think she makes a good foil for Daryl, and I'm interested in where her character will go in the next season, but for now, I'm gonna see if I can play around a little bit, before the show comes back. _

_Well thanks for reading, please send me ya feedback, good or bad, I love it all. _

_Till next time,_

_~Solareon._


	2. Through the Fog

**_Author's Notes:_** _Sorry it took so long to update, I had a lot of stuff and things to do. I'm back now, and suffering a little less from walking dead withdrawal. Anyway, here is the next chapter._

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Chapter 2: _Through the Fog_

Contrariety to popular belief, Karen wasn't a native to Woodbury before the outbreak started, in fact, before she had stumbled upon the town, she had lived on the road with her son, trying to find some type of protection from the hordes of flesh-eating walkers and the maddening world they now were trapped living in. She wasn't as naive as some of the refuges in Woodbury, she knew about the horrors beyond Woodbury's walls, the hunger, the desperation, and the increasing fear everyone was developing for their fellow-man.

The places she had seen before finding Woodbury were terrible, they were either covered in walkers, or picked clean of any and all supplies, and sometimes they were just the worst of both worlds.

She couldn't even count how many times her son or herself had almost been killed, everyday was a new challenge, it was either trying to outrun the walkers, trying to outgun your fellow survivor, or just trying not to starve to death.

Then there were the darker days...when the last bullet in the chamber of her gun, almost looked like salvation. Salvation from all the terror that awaited her and her son, day after day. The ability to see her friends and family again, to finally be able to stop fighting all the time, to at last be able to sleep. In this new world, you were either going to be torn apart by bullets or bites, and the option to be able to end it all your terms, seemed like golden opportunity.

In the end, she couldn't do it though, she just couldn't give up, so she forced her body to keep on living for another day, regardless of what the world had turned into. She still had her son, and that was enough to make her keep fighting.

Then a miracle happened, she had found salvation, but not in the form of a bullet to head, but in the town of Woodbury, and it's leader.

After finding Woodbury, everything else before had seemed like a nightmare that she was finally waking up from. There was no danger, no cites or towns in ruin. There were real people in Woodbury, no bitters, walkers, or whatever hell humanity was transforming into. There was just real, caring people.

In time, she had been able to settle into the idea of safety, and no longer having to fight for survival ever day of her life. She thought that she'd finally be able to put her gun away, and never pick it up again.

Unfortunately, salvation, like many other things in the world they lived in now, turned out to be a lie. Woodbury turned into a ticking time bomb, and their self proclaimed leader, was the one who lit the match. Their leader, the Governor, had started a war with that he couldn't win, and punished the people of Woodbury when he indeed did lose.

She wasn't sure what happened to Governor, but she did know that she'd make him pay for all the horrible _things_ that he had done, she couldn't continue to live in this God forsaken earth, until she was sure he was dead.

The remaining people of Woodbury were ironically taken in by the same group they had gone to war with, and for the first time, in a long time, she was able to see the kindness that this horrifying world still had left in it. They had taken shelter in a prison the group was staying in, and soon after Karen had found seeing the destruction left over by the apocalypse.

So, she had picked up her gun again, and took on the role of defending her new home, and she just hoped she'd be able to at least settle down for a little bit. Living on the road again would just be a nightmare, and she wasn't ready to face that again.

That being said, Karen had seen many horrifying things before Woodbury, during her stay in Woodbury, and then even after taking up shelter in the prison, but for some reason, something about the Mountains of North Georgia, were making her skin crawl.

Ever since Daryl had pointed out that their supply run had taken them to the Mountains of North Georgia, he hadn't said a single word to her, which wouldn't have been too different from how he was acting before, yet this was a different type of silence. His posture was now rigid, tense, his hands were gripping his knees so hard, they were turning white.

Turing her eyes away from Daryl, Karen stared out at the road, mountains were the only thing she could see, well, not the only thing, fog was slowly making it harder for her to the road in front of her. The higher the truck acceded into mountains, the more intense the fog became, it got so bad, that Karen had to drop the speed of the truck, and slowly cruise on through.

Besides her, Daryl was still lost in an almost trance like state, he couldn't hear anything, but a loud a ringing in his ears. Taking long, deep breaths of air, he started to question his own sanity, what was he thinking when he agreed to go on this run without asking where the fuck he'd have to go?

As he continued to mentally berate himself, something started to shake up. Instantly he jumped out of his thoughts, Karen had her hand rested on his shoulder, and was yelling his name.

"Daryl!" She yelled again. "Are you ok, you've been spacing out for the last-"

Daryl cut Karen off by throwing her hand off his shoulder. "Don't fucking touch me, just drive, woman."

"Hey, watch your tone, Dixon." Karen snapped, fixing him a dark glare. "Just cause your having a little episode, doesn't mean I have to suffer because of it."

"Ay, no one asked you to see if I was a'right." Daryl said glaring back at Karen. "Just leave well enough alone. Ain't no concern of yers."

Karen glare depend at Daryl, but she turned her eyes back towards the road. "Whatever, Dixon. Lets just get this over with, before you turn into an even bigger prick."

"Bitch." Daryl muttered.

"Asshole." Karen countered.

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It had taken them an hour of driving, but they had finally found a town to stop in. Karen all but jumped out of the truck, relieved to actually be able to stretch her legs. Sitting still in that truck with a disgruntled Dixon was beginning to drive her mad.

The relief of being out of the truck soon faded away though, once she was able to actually look at the town they had stopped in.

Desolation.

That was the first word that came to mind as she looked at the town, there was no signs life, no clues that life had ever been there in the first place. Now, that didn't make much of a diffrence from what many other places looked like now in their crumbling world. But something about _this_ place was different.

Maybe it was the way the empty buildings were illuminated by the broken rays of light, that were shining through the thickening fog. Or maybe it was the trees slowly moving in a sickening slow pace, making the black forest that surrounded the town, look forbidden. Even the snow, that she personally thought always looked beautiful, was now glistening in patches across the murky earth.

There were many places left in this world that were terrible and horrific, some because of the walkers, because of the terrible conditions that other survivors left it in, and just hopeless bleak ruins humanity had left behind, but this town...

This town was horrific simply because it existed. It wasn't the result of human or walker intervention…it was the lack of it. Or at least the lack of its effects…There was something dark and timeless about the empty, dirt covered buildings; the twisted, tangled forest beyond; the constant fog…

It didn't matter that the world had ended, because for this town, it looked like the world had casted it aside long ago. Whatever was wrong with this place, it would always be that way, maybe it always had been this way. There was nothing any human could do about. Whether a giant community was built over the town, or someone burned the town down to the earth's core, and swept away the ashes, nothing would or could ever disguise the feel of the place. What was really the sickening part of the town's presence though, wasn't what the eyes could see, no, it was what the eyes couldn't see. There was a darkness seeping out from every inch of this town, and even if it were to be destroyed, there would still be the sickening feeling, that something had survived...

A cold whisper of a word crept its way into her ear:_ Beware..._

Karen watched as Daryl exited their truck, she noticed that he was fully geared up, his crossbow was off his shoulder and firmly in his hand, a hunting knife was attached to his hip, and a combat blade was attached to his shoulder, and she could already guess that he had his IMI Desert Eagle hidden somewhere under his leather jacket.

Just looking at how armed Daryl was, made Karen un-sling her AR-15 semi-automatic rifle off her shoulder, and grip it as tight as her hands would allow.

Daryl was staring off into the fog, looking at something that remained unknown to her, because of the fog. She squinted her eyes, trying to see what he was looking at, but the fog was too thick.

"You see something?" She asked stepping closer to him, raising her rifle subconsciously.

Daryl stared out into the fog for one more moment, than shook his head. "Nah, ain't shit out there." He said. "Just the fog playing tricks on me."

Karen sighed in relief, she wasn't sure why, but the idea of fighting anything, from a place like this, just made her soul go cold. "Lets get moving then." Karen said lowering her rifle a little. "I think I saw some a building that we could scavenge from." She started to walk ahead, not waiting for Daryl's response.

"Lead the way." Daryl replied, still not lowering his crossbow. Stopping mid-step, Karen looked over her shoulder and stared at him.

Did Daryl Dixon just say "Lead the way?"

Since joining the prison group, she had gone on about a dozen or so supply runs with him, and never, not once, has he ever told her to take lead in anything. Sure if it was someone like Rick, he wouldn't mind letting the man lead over him, but when it came to her, she would always get the shit end of the stick.

Karen smiled a little back Daryl, thinking that maybe the two of them were making some head way in getting use to the other. She started walking ahead of him again and called out "Alright, Dixon. Follow me."

Following close behind Karen, Daryl kept an ever vigilante eye on her, and their surroundings. He couldn't afford to let his guard down, not now, not _here_.

He was sure Karen hadn't even seen the sign at the entrance of the town. The sign that read:

_Welcome to Arkham hill_

That sign wasn't meant for welcoming though, it was a warning, an alert. By entering this town, they had just started a game, that neither of them knew the rules to.

It had been some time since he had been back in this shit hole, he hadn't seen the damn town since his mother had died in the _accidental_ fire, that burned down his childhood home. After that, he had moved away to live farther down the mountains with his old man.

What Karen didn't know though, was that Daryl wasn't letting her lead, because of some trivial trust reasons.

He was letting her lead, because when he was staring off into the fog before, he could have sworn he saw some _thing_ staring back at him...

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**Author's Notes:** _Well, that's the end of chapter two, thanks for reading and if you have any questions, criticism, or any positive feedback, please review!_

_ Till next time_

_~Solareon_


	3. The Siren

**Author's Notes**: _To everyone who reviewed this story so far, I want to thank ya guys, ya guys rock! Now to answer some questions I had been asked._

**Question: So we are like in Daryl's hometown, right ? Are we going to see all the people he knew in zombie mode? Or some of them will still be alive ?**

_**Answer:** We are in Daryl's hometown, yes, and he will run into many faces of his past. Just like Rick had to deal with his demons in the episode 'Clear' Daryl will have to deal with his own in this. _

**Question: Is there any love headed for these two (; ?**

**Answer: **I'm not really sure about love, at this point in the story, their both still pretty broken from the last season, but I still got something planned. I do like the idea of Karen and Daryl together, but this story is more about the both of them dealing with their own personal issues and helping each other stay alive. Their relationship with each other will still play a key element in the story though!

**Review shout-outs: insomniac, lilhanna, Buckismith, Nik's stubble. **

_Anyway, here is the next chapter._

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_Chapter 3: The Siren_

Karen was nervous.

Karen was nervous, because Daryl was nervous.

He hadn't said it out loud, but she had been able to tell.

She had prided herself on always being able to read body language, to know if someone was afraid, happy, or angry. She wasn't sure when she picked up the skill, maybe in the short span of time between when life had been easy and when life had turned into a daily fight or flight battle for survival. This skill in reading body language, had been one of the few things that had saved her live from the Governor, during his rampage.

That same skill, was now alerting her to all the red flags Daryl was setting off.

All of his actions were guarded, and not the calm, collected guarded he would use for patrolling the prison or killing walkers, no, this was different. His posture, even while walking, was tense and rigid, almost like he was having trouble walking in a straight line, his grip on his crossbow was almost vice grip tight, with his knuckles turning a pale white from how hard he was holding onto it. Then there was the stinger, what made her know that they were not as safe as she thought they were; Daryl's eyes.

Daryl was a hunter, a tracker, the second in command at the prison, the lancer to the group's hero, the Han Solo to Rick's Luke Skywalker. Even with his occasional temper, Daryl was known to be the calmest, most level-headed one in their group, the only ones who could out rank him in that, were Michonne and Hershel. She wouldn't call him cold, but he was nowhere near as hot-headed as Merle had been, or unstable like some other survivors she had known, he was just...Zen.

At the moment though, Daryl was anything, but Zen, and his eyes told the whole story.

His once calculated, calm blue eyes, had turned sharp and hardened, there was an almost feral look in them, they scanned every building, every house, every tree, every rock, and always the fog, especially the fog. Since leaving the truck, and entering the forbidding feeling town, Daryl had not once taken at least one eye off of the fog, always watching it and the shadows, as if something she couldn't see was watching them, waiting.

She hadn't voiced her concerns yet, she knew it'd do her no good. If she asked him what was wrong, he'd just close off from her, and stay silent. Something about this town, it wasn't agreeing with him, and whatever was effecting him, was starting to have an effect on her.

Karen felt it, the sense of dread, their senses were sending them a warning about the town, and the warning came in the form of one word; Hostile.

That was only thing that came to mind as she walked through the foggy town, it was as if they were trespassing. The only other thing she was waiting for now was a giant spotlight to shine down on them, or an alarm.

A scraping sound cached their attention, Daryl swung around and instantly fired an arrow in the direction where he heard the sound come from. Karen turned to look at what he had shot, and was surprised to find out that he had fired his arrow into a tree.

The scraping had been from a tree branch scraping against the wall of building it had been close too.

She looked back towards Daryl, "Dixon?" he wasn't looking at her, his eyes were trained anywhere, but at her's. Wordlessly, he passed by her and walked over to the tree to retrieve his arrow.

Karen's nerves increased even more as she watched him stalk over to his arrow, he was on the edge, just the sound of a tree scraping had sent him off. Daryl never fired an arrow without knowing what his target was, but for some reason, knowing what he was shooting at didn't matter.

What did Daryl think he was shooting at?

"Dixon, you alright?" She asked finally voicing her concern.

He didn't answer her though, he just continued to look out into the fog. Karen gave the hunter a concerned look, she was starting to worry about him, he was acting strange. It wasn't a new thing for him to ignore her, but right now he was just losing focus entirely.

Daryl turned away from the fog, he looked back at Karen and then glared daggers at her when he caught her staring at him with worried eyes. "Hell you staring at, woman?"

Worry was replaced with anger, Karen rolled her eyes and started to walk ahead. "Forget it, Dixon. Let's just keep moving before another tree has to get shot."

Rage flashed in Daryl's eyes, he wasn't in the mood to be back talked by anyone or to have someone turn their back on him. He sprinted up towards Karen, and spun her around so she could look at him in the eyes when he was talking to her.

His ice blue eyes challenged her firm brown eyes.

For a second, he had forgotten why he was angry with her in the first place, he lost himself in her eyes. There was something familiar looking about them, there were emotions in her eyes screaming; anger, fear, hatred, sadness, loss.

Her eyes, they reminded him of-

"You keep staring, I'm gonna have to charge you." Karen said throwing his hand off of her shoulder. "We got shit to do, Dixon. We can kill each other later."

Daryl shook his head hard. Her eyes reminded him of nothing. Just another worthless, green horn survivor, who was sponging off his group.

"Just keep your eyes to ya self, rookie."

Karen glared at Daryl "Rookie?"

Daryl didn't reply, he walked past Karen, not even sparing her a second glance.

The woman growled a string of curses under her breath, making a promise to herself, to never go on a supply run with the Dixon man again.

An imposing looking house stood near the center of the town, its size larger than the other shack looking houses Karen had seen since she had arrived at the town. It's aged brick walls, were marked by time, the bricks that had once probably been a vibrant ruby-red, was now a decaying, faded crimson gray, there were cracks running through every part of the building, from its duty bottom, to it's shambling roof, but even with its lack of appearance, something about the building send cold chills down her spine. Dust stained the glass on almost every window, hiding the inside of the building from her sight, and the ones that were missing glass entirely, the shadows that occupied the building seemed to purge any light that would enter, and consume it in darkness.

Without realizing it, Karen began to take slow steps towards the building. Something inside of there seemed to be calling for her, screaming for her to enter. She wanted to see what was in there, she _needed_ to see what was in there.

A strong had gripped her shoulder firmly, halting her mid-step.

She turned her head away from the building, and looked to the hand's owner.

"We ain't going in there." Daryl said.

Karen cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Why not, this is a supply run, we-"

"That's right, a supply run," Daryl said cutting her off. "Ain't no time for exploring some shit hole."

"That_ shit hole_ might have some things we need in it, Dixon." She wasn't sure if it did, but with a house that size, there had to be something useful in there.

Daryl looked passed her and at the building, a wave of different emotions crossed his face, many of of them, she had never seen him display before, at least not since she had met him. After a moment, he lowered his head, and shook it violently, Karen noted that was the second time he had done that since the they had arrived at the town.

"Ain't nothing good in there." He said quietly, not looking at her or the building. "Trust me on that."

"You speaking from experience, Dixon?" She asked.

"Speaking from survival instincts." Daryl pointed towards the house. "That shit hole probably crawling in walkers, from the damn attic, to the fucking murky basement. Ain't worth getting torn apart for a chance the damn place hording on some chicken fucking soup."

Karen looked at the house, then back to Daryl. She hated to admit it, but the man had a point, the building already looked like it was more trouble than it was worth, even without the threat of walkers.

Then again, so did the whole town.

Sighing in defeat, she backed away from the building. "Alright, Dixon, where do you think we should go?"

Karen thought she saw a flesh of relief show on Daryl's face, but as quick as it appeared, it was gone. He motioned across the fog with his crossbow. "Think I saw something promising over there.

She turned to look what he was pointing at, but the fog was too thick for her to see anything beyond two feet. "How the hell can you see through that?" She asked raising an eyebrow his way.

Shrugging, Daryl looked away, then walked past her to the direction he had pointed to, and said over his shoulder. "C'mon, we're losing daylight. I wanna be out of this place before shit gets dark."

Karen looked over her own shoulder at the retreating sun. The last thing she wanted was to be caught in this town after dark. It was bad enough in the daylight, she didn't even want to know what the darkness transformed it into.

Turns out, Daryl had been right about seeing something promising. There had been a small trading post store hidden in the fog, and after breaking inside, they found out that the place was almost fully stocked. It was like no one had even been able to scavenge the place yet. She couldn't help but smile broadly looking at all the food and other supplies they could bring back to the prison.

As they explored, Karen found guns, can goods, ammo, cloths, the place was a gold mine. She also noticed that there were signs all over the store that read 'The Arkham Hill trading post.'

"Guess this towns called Arkham Hill." She mused to herself. "You see any signs outside that said that, Dixon?" She asked.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders, looking out the dusty window the trading post. "Wasn't paying attention."

Karen raised an eyebrow, since when did _Daryl Dixon,_ not pay attention?

"Not once? Come on, Dixon, where's that eagle eye the sheriff is always bragging about."

Daryl just grunted, and continued looking out the window.

Karen made annoyed face at Daryl's back, was it that hard to get any reaction from the guy? Sighing, she looked back towards the store. "Well, at least we found what we're looking for."

Drayl nodded in agreement. "Looks like it. You sort through it, I'll bring the truck around."

He went to walk out of the store, but Karen cached him by his sleeve. He looked back at her and she smirked a little at him. "Hey, don't worry about that. I'll get the truck. You found the place, so let me get the truck. Call it a peace-offering ."

Daryl went to open his mouth, but Karen just held her hand up. "Really, I got this. Just relax and I'll be back in a second." She then ran out of the trading post before he could protest anything else.

There were two reasons Karen had wanted Daryl to stay at the trading post; the first, was that she actually did feel like she should be the one to fetch the truck, since he had been the one to find the store in the first place. The second one, was because she was hoping to be able to slip away from him for a second. There was something nagging at her from the back of her mind, and she wouldn't be able to focus on anything until she dealt with hit.

The shadow of the large imposing house stood in front of her, the slowly disappearing sun made the building look even more intimidating, but the look of the place wouldn't stop her now. Her curiosity to see what was in the building had peaked when Daryl had stopped her, something about the unknown look in his eyes, had made her want to know what was in the building even more.

She stepped forward and touched door to the building, taking a deep breath she pushed the door the open and walked inside.

The house actually didn't look that bad from the inside, sure it needed some work here and there, but it wasn't as bad as the outside made it out to be. It was smaller than it looked too, from the outside it looked like a mini mansion, but now, it just looked small to her.

As Karen continued to explore through the house, she felt a strange feeling, there was something familiar about being inside of the building, as if it's presence had been one she felt before. There was also the fact that the entire house smelled of smoke, but there wasn't any traces of ash or smoke damage, yet all she could smell was the remnants of a burning fire.

She somehow found her way to the second story of the house, and was now exploring the rooms, she didn't know why she was doing it, she just was. It was like something was leading her around the house. Then she came up on a room that looked like it was the master bedroom.

The room was covered in dust, items were broken and left scattered all over the floor, and the room had looked like it had gone through its own personal tornado; furniture was destroyed, walls were punched in, the glass windows were broken, and pieces of glass were left all around the room.

"If Daryl was here, he'd call this place a shit hole." Karen muttered to the empty room. She wondered if he was still waiting in the trading post for her, sorting out can goods and mumbling about chicken soup. The thought actually made her smile a bit. Then her smile dropped when she remembered that as soon as she got back to him, he'd probably bitch at her for taking so long.

Karen's thoughts were interrupted when she stumbled over a book, she managed to catch herself before falling onto the broken glass on the floor.

Scowling at the withered, dusty book that had almost tripped her, she picked it up, inspecting the old thing, noticing that it looked like it had been pulled out of a fire, the front cover and back was stained black from smoke, the edges of it were singed off, it even smelled like it had been in a fire, then again, so did the entire house. She thought that maybe the house had gone through some smoke damage in the past, and had been cleaned up before the world ended, because it couldn't have been recently, there wasn't any signs of a fire inside of the house. It was the only explanation she could think of as to why the book and the entire house in general, smelled like a fireplace.

Staring at the book intently, the feeling of not controlling her own body come over her again and she opened the book without a thought, reading through it.

Reading through the book, she soon found out that it wasn't even a book at all, it was a journey or diary of some sort. There were entries  
written in almost every page, but most of them were almost impossible to read since the book was damaged so severely.

Getting bored of trying to read the burned diary, Karen was about to place the book down, and head back to the truck, Daryl must have been throwing a fit waiting for her to come back already with it, but she stopped herself from closing the diary when she stumbled upon a legible entry. Most of the writing looked rushed, and their were water stains, but she had managed to make out most of it.

_'I never should of taken the book. Will was right, it wasn't worth the risk. They'll come for me now, I'm so fucking scared, they give me to it, I just know they will. They'll ring that siren and...of fucking Christ, God no, please, please, please, I can't, I just can't. If you find this baby, I'm so, so sorry. Your mommy loves you. Please, don't hate me, I'm so sorry. I love you Daryl, I love you Merle. Please don't hate me, please, please, please. I'm sorry.'_

A horrible sense of realization displayed itself on Karen's face as she dropped the diary to the ground.

Suddenly everything made sense to her, why Daryl had known where the trading post was, his strange behavior, why he could see through the fog and she couldn't, this wasn't just some random town, this was where Daryl had come from.

"Thought you were getting the truck." A cold voice said behind her.

Karen jumped, turning around slowly, she saw Daryl looking at her coldly, a dark glare on his face. He stepped forward, breathing deeply, "Thought I told ya to stay outta here?" He said coming closer to her.

Karen stood her ground, glaring back at Daryl. "The fuck, Dixon? Why didn't you tell me you were from this horrifying place?"

"Why the fuck couldn't ya just mind yer own damn business?" He countered getting in her face.

Karen couldn't believe he was making her out to be the wrong one. "You should have told me!"

"I don't owe you anything. You ain't kin, you ain't part of my gro-"

Before Daryl could finish, the sound of a siren blaring through the town stopped the two from fighting anymore, and Karen could feel Daryl's mood go from anger to fear instantly. She was surprised to see the color drain from Daryl's face so fast, he looked towards her, panic and fear spreading across his face. "We have to go now!" He roared, running forward and gripping her arm.

Karen didn't even try to argue, she knew better than most that loud noises attracted walkers, but the look on Daryl's face said that there was more to fear than just walkers in the town of Arkham hill.

They raced from the second story, to the first, Daryl practically kicked down the door, not even bothering to use the handle. The pair ran outside, and Karen would have stopped dead in her tracks if it wasn't for Daryl yanking her along.

Now she realized why Daryl hadn't wanted to be in the town after sunset. If Arkham had looked bad during the day, then after the sun had disappeared, it could be classified as utterly terrifying. The fog had somehow faded away, and the town was now clearly visible, every building looked like it had come straight out of an inferno, and the ones that didn't looked like they had been set on fire, look like _should have_ been. Their were dark red marking painted all over the walls of the buildings, some were threats, others were just disturbed looking pictures. Christ, did Daryl see all these? And if he did, how the hell had he managed to keep his composure?

As the raced through the streets, Karen saw lamppost after lamppost, start to spring to life, letting off a dim, orange glow. The more they ran, the brighter the lights got, and it got to the point where she had to hold a hand over her eyes, to shield them from the blinding light.

The truck came into view, and Karen felt relief wash over her, it pained her that they wouldn't have time to empty out of trading post, but she knew they could just find another town. All she wanted right now was to get the fuck away from Arkham hill.

Just as they got close to the truck, the vehicle ignited in an explosion, throwing both Karen and Daryl backwards, and crashing to the ground. She felt her head smash against the unforgiving ground, her surroundings started to spin, and she felt herself slowing losing consciousness. The last thing she heard before her world went black, was Daryl yelling her name, and the sound of him firing his crossbow.

* * *

_**Author's Notes:** Let me now explain some things. The Diary that Karen found did belong to Daryl's mother. In the Diary when Daryl's mom says 'Sorry baby.' That means she's just talking about Daryl's she's apologizing to him. The Siren, you'll learn about next chapter, and as for the book, you're just gonna have to keep reading to find out what the hell some book has to do with anything. _

_Well thanks again for reading, please send me ya feedback, good or bad, I love it all. _

_Till next time,_

_~Solareon._


	4. Eyepatch

**Author's Notes**: _To everyone who reviewed this story so far, I love ya guys like a fat kid likes cake, like Charlie Sheen likes banging seven gram rocks. Ya guys are the best! _

**Review shout-outs: Buckismith, wolfgal97, insomniac, and Nik's stubble. **

_So, here is the next chapter._

* * *

Chapter 4: Eyepatch

Flames danced around the burning town, orange, red, and black ash rained down from above, a fiery wreckage of mental stood in place where a once reliable truck had been, spare parts from the vehicle were scattered and left all over the center of Arkham hill, some were on rooftops, others had been propelled into nearby windows, and the rest had just landed all over the ground, like the sharp, heavy, jagged piece of steel that had landed on Karen herself.

_The weight of the mental was pinning Karen to the ground firmly, the jagged edges of it were digging slowly into her cloths, threatening to pierce her skin, both of her arms were stuck under the metal, and she was left trying to force the piece off of her using her body weight alone._

_Struggling to lift the weight off of her, she felt the jagged edges of the mental start to dig deeper into her flesh, blood started to drip from the newly formed wounds. By just trying to free herself, she was hurting herself even more. _

_Karen grunted in pain as she continued to push pass the pain and try to force herself free, but the sound of gargling moaning and groaning caught her attention. She immediately froze, eyes going wide and blood running cold._

_The color drained from Karen's face as she looked ahead of her; Walkers, or at least what she thought had to be walkers. They were different looking though, more...deformed. The fact that they had once been average looking humans, seemed almost impossible to believe. _

_These walkers also didn't move like the ones she had been accustomed to seeing. The walkers she had seen shambled, limped, or in some cases, crawled, but that wasn't the case for what she was seeing now. _

_The way Arkham hill looked, the way the town felt, that's the way these creatires she was seeing moved like. Their bodies contorted with every step, limbs snapping out and back into place, necks twisting and spinning in ways you'd think their necks would snap or even their heads fall off, some of them were missing body parts; like legs, arms, or jaws, then there were the ones that had too many limbs; extra arms, eyes, legs...heads._

_Panic rose in Karen as the creatures made their way towards her, she was slowly losing strength fast, the metal pushing down on her body was making it harder to breathe, her head was still spinning from being thrown by the truck's explosion and fatigue was slowly started to take over her body._

_As the creatures crept closer, Karen's vision started to blur, and her body finally gave out on her. She stopped struggling and let the giant piece of metal become dead weight on her body, blinking back tears, she watched as the monstrous looking creatures made their way towards her. _

_Just as she felt herself losing the battle to stay awake, she heard one of the walkers let out an ear-piercing howl, it then made a leap for her, but before it could make contact with her flesh, an arrow had shot seemingly out of nowhere and invaded itself in the walkers head. _

_With no strength left to stay awake anymore, Karen finally lost the battle to stay consensus and passed out._

With a strangled gasp, Karen's eyes shot open.

Her vision was blurred, but when it cleared, a familiar pair of blue eyes were staring back at her.

"I thought I was dead." she said in a horse, raspy voice.

Daryl looked away. "Surprised ya ain't." He hadn't said he really _was _ surprised she hadn't died, she had stopped breathing a little bit ago, and after she hadn't responded to him using CPR on her, he was about to shot a arrow through her head, it was only when she had started to breathe again that he had lowered his crossbow.

Karen choked out a bitter laugh, her throat was burning, her head was still spinning, and all she wanted was a drink, maybe some water spiked with rum "Nice to see you too, Dixon."

Picking up her head a little from the floor, she noticed that most of her shirt was torn up and that dried blood had stained it, she also noticed that she had bandages wrapped around parts of her torso, stomach, and her shoulder. Running her fingers against her bandages, she looked at Daryl, silently questioning him.

Daryl shrugged, looking away from her, "The metal cut ya up bad, bandaged ya up the best I could when I managed to get us away from the wreck back to the trading post." He said still not looking at her.

Karen slowly started to pick herself off the cold wooden floor, wincing in pain with every movement. Daryl had noticed her struggling to get on her feet went over her and offered his hand to help her up. Taking his hand, she noticed that they were bandaged heavily, blood had stained the white cloth of the bandages completely and they were now a dark shade of red.

'He must of slashed up his hands trying to save me' She thought to herself, remembering how bad she had been cut up just by trying to lift it off of herself.

Daryl noticed her looking at his hands, "Ain't nothing," He said with a shrug. "Been through worse."

Biting her bottom lip, Karen looked away from Daryl as he helped her to her feet. "So, we gonna talk about what happened out there."

Daryl didn't reply to that, he helped her up, then he thrusted a bottle of water in her hands, he then pointed to a stack of cloths on the counter, "Found of em here, they should fit ya well enough."

Saying a quick thanks, Karen started gulp down the bottle of water, there were millions of questions swimming around her head that she was just dying to ask; _Were those things outside even walkers? And if not, than what in god's name were they? What are we going to do now that are only way out is in a giant fireball of destruction? Why didn't you tell me you were from here? Don't you...don't you even trust me?_

She sighed, she knew learning the answers to those questions was urgent, but she also knew from experience, when working with a Dixon, it was easier to coax the information out calmly, than attacking with multiple questions at the same time.

The first thing she had to take care of though was getting out of her torn and bloody cloths, last thing she wanted to do was get sick from her own blood or the shreds from her cloths get stuck on something. Turning around, Karen started to unbutton her shirt, barley caring for modesty at the moment.

Daryl raised an eyebrow in confusion when Karen turned around, but after she started to strip off her ruined cloths, he quickly caught on. "The hell you doing, woman?" he asked turning his attention to a dusty window, sounding slightly uncomfortable. "Ya can't change in another room?"

Karen stifled a laugh as she threw off her shirt and started to unclasp her bra, "Sure, Dixon, nothing sounds safer than searching an abounded trading post alone for a room to change in, because ya know, splinting up always works out well in unknown territory."

Scowling at her sarcasm, Daryl turned his head back to her to reply, but shut his mouth just as quickly as he opened. For a split second he couldn't help but notice Karen's bare back, he didn't going to admit it, but she didn't look too bad, from her bronze tanned skin, her soft curves, to the light muscle definition. Realizing he was staring, he looked back out the murky window, trying to get his head focused back to the horrible situation they were now in, gawking at some smartass woman wouldn't do shit to help him. If this was a year ago, than his mind would be imagining Merle saying all kinds of annoying shit in his head, but even his brain knew how things were now, Merle was dead, there wasn't no reason to even make him imagine his brother anymore.

The cloths Karen was changing into weren't anything fancy, but they'd be good enough for now; a sports bra, a long sleeve shirt made of tougher material than her last one, and a new jacket. She was pretty sure that he had gotten all the cloths from the trading post, since they all looked faded and old.

Noticing there some more cloths left, Karen looked through the small pile and saw that at least one of the shirts would fit Daryl. "Hey, Dixon," She through a new shirt at him, he caught it with a baffled look. "Don't give me that look, you're shirt's more ripped up than mine was, and you have twice as much blood on it."

"I'm fine." Daryl said gruffly throwing the shirt back at her.

Karen caught the shirt and through it back at him double the force. "Just change your damn shirt, Dixon. Its covered in blood, and last time I checked, walkers love that shit. You can even cut the sleeves off the damn thing later."

"Aright fine, if it gets ya to shut yer mouth for once." grumbled Daryl as he accepted the shirt. He then glared at Karen and said "Ya can turn away now, some of us got modesty."

"Modesty for what?" Karen asked with tired, small grin on her face.

"Just do it." He replied harshly.

Rolling her eyes, Karen turned around so that she was facing a glass gun cabinet. "There, I'm not looking. Your secret tramp stamps are safe."

Looking down, Karen saw where she had laid just before, their was dried blood, and ripped up bandages all over the floor, she also saw that there was a ballad up leather jacket where her head had laying. She smiled a small, warm smile, knowing that it had to have been Daryl's since he wasn't wearing his anymore _'Guess he isn't that bad...for an asshole.'_

She looked back up at the glass cabinet, she saw the reflection of Daryl changing, and when she watched him take off his torn, bloodied shirt, she had to bite her tongue hard so she wouldn't gasp in horror.

Through the reflection of the glass, she saw scars upon scars on Daryl's chest, some long enough to stretch across his whole torso to his back, and others that looked like burns or old gashes. She knew he had scars, hell they all had scars, but not like _that_. For a second she wondered if he had gotten them in Woodbury, during his capture, but she threw out the thought, those scars looked too old, too _healed_ to be anything given to him recently.

Karen felt sick, she had to look down at the floor, all she wanted to do was ask even more questions now, questions like where, why, and how he had gotten those terrible scars, but instead just said. "So, you gonna tell me whats going on now, Dixon?" She tried to keep her voice even, but she knew she probably failed.

Thinking that Karen had some how gotten a look at his scars, Daryl self-consciously and quickly buttoned up his shirt, stopping only at the last button of the collar "Ain't got much choice now, do I?"

"No, you don't" Karen said firmly, turning back around to look at Daryl, she crossed her arms, and buried the questions about Daryl's scars for later. "You're gonna have to tell me what's going on."

Daryl chewed the inside of his mouth, silently contemplating. He knew he couldn't keep too much a secret anymore, they were up shit's creek without a paddle, and his knowledge of Arkham hill would be the only thing keeping them both from drowning.

Sighing, Daryl said. "Alright, what do ya want to know."

She wanted to ask, _'Where did you get those scars?_' Instead she asked "The Siren, what's the deal with that?"

"It's a warning." He said grimly.

The color drained from Karen's face for the second time today. "A warning for what?"

"Nothing good, lets leave it at that."

"And what about those..." Karen was having trouble even trying to name the creatures she had seen before. "We're those _things_ even walkers?"

"I'm not sure." He said, rubbing his tired eyes "They looked like walkers, but they...they didn't act like em."

"What do you mean _act_ like them?" She questioned stepping forward.

"They didn't try to eat you when they had a chance, they actually tried to attack me, not eat, attack. They almost seemed like they knew what they were doing."

Karen was starting to second guess if she even wanted to get answers about what was going on anymore. One of the few advantages they had over walkers, was that they were smarter than they were. Walkers were mindless, feral, flesh eaters, but if you were smart, you could survive an encounter with them, but if these..._ghouls_ didn't have that set back, if they were actually self-aware, than surviving would be harder than it had ever been.

She was about to ask about the diary she had read in Daryl's old house, when something struck a chord in her brain, something Daryl had just said was sitting right with her.

"Hold on, Dixon, "Karen stepped closer to him, till they were only a foot apart. "Was that siren ever on a timer?"

Daryl shook his head, confused about what she was trying to get at.

"If the siren is a warning, and the siren isn't on timer, that means..." Her eyes widened in realization

Daryl suddenly caught on to what Karen was hinting at, his face darkened and his scowl returned. "That means someone else is alive here, and the warning's for us."

* * *

A towering, old building stood at the edge of Arkham hill, the shadow it cast over the surrounding land was unnaturally dark, the broken windows, portals to the inky blackness leaked out a darkness through the shattered remains, the surrounding area was barren, marked by jagged, rocky terrain and steep cliffs on all opposing sides but the entrance. The building had one way in, and one way out, no other escape, no other entrace.

Deep inside the building, past the old blood stained walls, past the decaying corpses, that littered almost every floor, there was a man, standing near a window, looking out at the town of Arkham hill. A cold, sinister smile had found its way to his face.

It had taken some time, so much waiting, so much planning, but finally, it was time for the game to start.

The man walked over to an old-looking console, there were numerous switches, levers and buttons, but, he only needed to use one at the moment. He lightly pushed a faded red button, then a loud and blaring siren horn started to echo through out the town.

Howls and screeches could faintly be heard over the siren, and the man's demented smile only grew larger.

Walking away from the console, the man started whistling to himself, as made his way back over to the window to enjoy the view of Arkham hill, he made sure to pick up a discarded eyepatch off of the floor.

* * *

_**Author's Notes:** Now the story really begins. Bloody hell it took forever to get to this part. I wrote up so many different ways I wanted this story to go, but I'm happy now it has a one way path now. Updates will now be twice a week, since I want to get this story finished before I end up getting writer's block!_

_Well thanks again for reading, please send me ya feedback, good or bad, I love it all. _

_Till next time,_

_~Solareon._


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